Graham Knox, Manager of B.C.'s Environmental Emergency Program will be in Kitimat on Saturday evening the 23rd of February to do a presentation. Everyone in Kitimat is encouraged to attend as this addresses all the recent activities and proposed new Industrial developments over the next few years and how they might impact Douglas Channel.

tar sands spill update

Comment by mr wonder on 19th February 2013

BY SHEILA PRATT, EDMONTON JOURNAL FEBRUARY 11, 2013

EDMONTON - British Columbia newspaper magnate David Black says he’ll know in about 60 days whether his controversial idea for a new refinery on the West Coast will move forward or die a quiet death.In a recent interview, Black said he has signed memorandums of agreement with parties interested in the idea of a $15-billion refinery at Kitimat, done some preliminary design work and talked to financial backers — though any deal has a long way to go.“I’ve been pulling threads together — potential customers, financiers, government, First Nations — and they should all be saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ within 60 days.”If the parties say “yes,” there would be two years of regulatory approvals required before construction could begin, he said.But Black is still convinced the Kitimat refinery he proposed six months ago will be the key to reducing fierce opposition in B.C. to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline that would carry 550,000 barrels of Alberta bitumen daily to the West Coast for shipping to Asia.Turning bitumen into gasoline or diesel — which would evaporate if spilled — before loading it into tankers for the Asian market avoids the risk of fouling the B.C. coast, a major worry for B.C. residents, he argued.But the idea is a gamble, said University of Alberta business professor Richard Dixon.For a new refinery to make economic sense, the price of bitumen has to stay at today’s low levels — about $40 less than the world price of oil, said Dixon, executive director of the U of A Centre for Applied Research into Energy and the Environment.“What he is gambling on is that the price differential will hold for five years,” and that’s not likely, said Dixon.